The present invention relates to a tire carrier for an automotive vehicle and, more particularly, to a hitch mounted tire carrier.
Most automotive vehicles carry a spare tire. This spare tire sometimes is carried within the interior of the vehicle. Because such an arrangement results in the spare taking up interior space, it is desirable in many situations to have the spare tire mounted on the exterior of the vehicle. This is particularly true with respect to recreational and sporting vehicles since interior space is often at a premium.
Several different designs of exterior tire mounts have been used in the past. One of the more common used today is the so-called "swing-away" arrangement for mounting the tire at the rear of a vehicle. Such an arrangement typically includes a significant frame having trusses to which the tire mounting plate is secured. The frame is pivotally secured to the side of the vehicle rear so that the arrangement can be swung away to enable access to the rear of the vehicle, such as to a door or gate.
A difficulty with swing-away arrangements is that because of the pivoting such an arrangement generally is not completely stable, i.e., has play. Because of such and the cantilevered weight represented by a swing-away tire mount, some even include a relatively complicated structure for securing the mount in the transportation position, i.e., when it is not being swung away. The result of the play and the cantilevering is that a complex and expensive arrangement is provided. Other exterior tire mounts have been designed for the stowing of a spare tire underneath a vehicle. Use of the same reduces vehicle clearance, of course, and some of such arrangements provide relatively complicated access to the tire.